Too Little, Too Late
by A Writer Named Anna
Summary: Akihiko realizes his feelings for the FeMC  Minako  just when she discovers her feelings for his best friend.  Just a little one-shot.


**A/N:** I have a newest obsession~. P3P. I mean seriously. I can't get enough of it. But I've always been interested in an Aki/Shinji/FeMC triangle of sorts. This is just a short little one-shot I wrote for fun while working on a bigger P3P project. (: Oh and because I suck at names, I just named it after the song I'm currently listening to.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own P3P. Sadly. I'm not using this for any monetary gain. It's just for fun. You know what would be awesome? You know how in .HACK and Mass Effect it carries your game play information over? They need to make 'The Answer' for P3P FeMC and do something like that. Then the main character, instead of Aigis (because I never liked her that much) should be whoever you romanced. Because I'd totally want Aki or Shinji to have my powers. Not her. I was so mad my last moments were spent with her until I found out about New Game Plus…OMG I'M GETTING OFF TOPIC. I DON'T OWN IT!

**TOO LITTLE TOO LATE**

Watching Minako leave every night with him was painful-even if he was my best friend. It was my own fault really for not telling her the truth when I had the chance, but how could I? I wasn't strong enough to protect her just like I wasn't strong enough to protect Miki. In fact it was still hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that my feelings might not have been strictly platonic as I originally thought they were.

There was nothing I could do about it now though. They both seemed so happy and Shinji, well, he'd changed. He might not have admitted it and if I ever confronted him about it he'd be just as stubborn as always trying to deny it, but it was obvious to not only me, but everyone else in the dorm. His trademark scowl had been replaced by an obvious smile he tried to keep hidden every time she approached him.

Oh, and the party. There was no way Shinji would have ever considered throwing a party for everyone. That had to be her doing. Only she could have convinced him to do something like that and, knowing the two of them, she probably did it without much trouble. All she had to do was ask. Shinji probably would have done anything for her-just as I knew I would do anything for her as well.

That night though, the night they thought no one was watching, was what almost killed me. There was nothing I could do except sit there quietly and pretend to read the paper that I had no interest in. No one else seemed to notice (or at least they didn't show that they had if they did). Her words were deafening to my ears though.

_I love you._

And like the idiot he was, all Shinji could do was say, "Huh?"

Reflexively I glanced over at them on the other side of the room. They were speaking quietly, hoping that no one else could hear them. It was a little late for that though. I was straining my ears to hear this confession because, for some reason, the whole time I was thinking, '_That should be me_.'

"D-don't tease me like that," Shinji finally said, chuckling a bit. It was clear that he shared her feelings, but being the hard-ass that he was, he'd probably never admit it.

But if I knew Minako, and I did, I knew how persistent she was. I knew that she wasn't one to give up so easily if there was something that she wanted and, I hated to see it, but I could tell by the look in her eyes there was something she wanted from Shinji. "I'm not teasing you," she insisted as she grabbed a hold of his arm. Her touch had always been so warm. I remember taking her hand to lead her somewhere on numerous occasions simply to have an excuse to touch her.

Why did I stop hanging out with her again?

"Why just blurt out something like that here? Here, of all places?" He hissed before glancing around the room. My eyes quickly flickered back to the newspaper, but I could feel his gaze lingering on me for a moment. Maybe I never admitted it to anyone, hell, I still hadn't fully admitted it to myself yet, but I had a feeling that Shinji knew how I felt just like I knew how he did.

"Can I go to your room?" Minako asked quietly. "So we can talk about this in private?"

I couldn't help but scoff at that point.

"Something wrong, Senpai?" Fuuka asked, briefly looking up from her laptop at me.

I could feel my face heat up and I furiously shook my head. "Damn headlines," I said, chuckling nervously. "I mean come on? Is it really important to know about the biggest cookie when there are more important things out there to worry about?" As if to prove a point, I slapped a random article with the back of my hand.

"Oh man," Junpei said happily at the thought. "Dude, could you imagine? I'd love to eat something like that! I bet it's so good!"

Yukari rolled her eyes. "You'll get fat, Stupei."

My fake article seemed to stir a lot of commotion. By the time I glanced back over to the spot, they were gone. Apparently I'd given them just the distraction they'd needed to get away without being seen and having any suspicions arise. I did catch a glimpse of Minako's back though as she walked up the stairs to the second floor and turned the corner out of sight.

Talking. My heart sank in my chest. Why didn't I believe that? Probably because I knew Shinji. Probably because I knew myself. If I had Minako alone in my room, well, I don't know how long I'd be able to stay in control.

That was it, wasn't it? All this time I thought that I'd just seen her as a little sister. I thought my concern for her was because I saw Miki in her. I wanted to protect her because I couldn't protect Miki. My jealousy of her 'dating' Junpei was my overprotective brotherly nature not wanting anyone near my sister. That's what I always thought.

None of that was true though. I didn't want her to be dating Junpei because _I _wanted to date her. I wanted to protect her because I was genuinely concerned about _her_. Now the person that I trusted more than anyone was upstairs with her right now and I knew what they were doing because it's what I would do if I had the chance-something I would _never _do with someone I considered a sister.

Folding the paper in my lap, I laid my head back and stared up at the ceiling. Why was it taking me so long to realize this? Why couldn't I realize it sooner? Now it was probably too late. My mind cursed my friend.

Damn it, Shinji.

You better not hurt her.


End file.
